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Rotten Tomatoes Claims Melania Documentary’s Near-Perfect Score Is Not Influenced By Bots

Rotten Tomatoes Claims Melania Documentary’s Near-Perfect Score Is Not Influenced By Bots

Melania‘s reception on Rotten Tomatoes has confused the public.

Releasing theatrically on January 30, the Amazon MGM documentary following First Lady Melania Trump currently has a 7% critical approval rating from 46 reviews, but a 99% score from audiences (from more than 1,000 verified ratings, according to the site). The astounding gap has led some to theorize that the Popcornmeter was being driven up by MAGA-supported bots.

Versant, Rotten Tomatoes’ parent company, denied this. In a statement to Variety, Versant said about the audience score: “There has been no bot manipulation on the audience reviews for the Melania documentary. Reviews displayed on the Popcornmeter are VERIFIED reviews, meaning it has been verified that users have bought a ticket to the film.

Jimmy Kimmel pointed out the disparity during his February 4 monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, jokingly suggesting some manipulation. “As of tonight, Melania has a score of 5% on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics. That is very low,” said Kimmel. “The audience score for Melania is 99% positive, which is 1% higher than The Godfather. And I’m sure Donald J. Corleone had nothing to do with that at all.

Rolling Stone also notes that this is now “the biggest disparity between critic and audience reviews in Rotten Tomatoes history.” It is likely that those who are seeing Melania in theaters are already aligned with President Donald Trump politically and are showing support by giving the doc positive reviews. And a significant number of people have seen it, as it heads into its second weekend in theaters.

Directed by Brett Ratner, Melania had the biggest opening weekend for a documentary in 10 years, grossing an initial $7 million domestically (having reached $10 million worldwide in the last week). However, this doesn’t mean that it is financially successful, as it cost Amazon MGM $40 to make the movie and another $35 million to promote it; it would need at least $150 million to break even.

Regardless of this, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Melania would be expanding its reach to 2,000 theaters (formerly 1,800) on February 3. Unless something drastic happens, Melania is guaranteed to be a massive flop for Amazon MGM. Yet the doc doubtlessly has its supporters, who will continue to bolster Melania as it is still in theaters and when it eventually releases on Prime Video.



Release Date

January 30, 2026

Runtime

104 minutes

Director

Brett Ratner

Producers

Fernando Sulichin, Brett Ratner, Melania Trump, Marc Beckman

Cast

  • Headshot Of Donald Trump

  • Cast Placeholder Image


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